


Bullshitting Acension Chapter 1

by Kiosk



Category: Ascension (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-06
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2018-02-07 16:07:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1905306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiosk/pseuds/Kiosk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened when I decided to write out Ascension in the car and I did zero checking for accuracy so enjoy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_… Cold._

_I never thought it would be cold._

_I think that deep down,_

_I knew all along_

_that I would die like this._

_I thought I was ready._

_But right now…_

_All I want…_

_…Is one last chance…_

_…To fight…_

 

One week earlier

 

“Sit the fuck back down bitch!”

“I dare you to say that to my face you ugly wench!”

Ah yes, the nifty fox inn, or as Sky always called it, “the place for all kinds of lowlifes.” Well Aida was a lowlife if there ever was one. But to her the Nifty Fox was merely a small source of extra income. It was great, because travelers always drank until they couldn’t see straight.

“Fight!” a dwarf who could likely wrestle a minotaur shouted before standing tiptoe to punch the sun elf next to him.

“Why you little,” the sun elf muttered and had the dwarf in a headlock within seconds.

That was enough to set it off. Beer mugs, shoes, and coins flew everywhere. A waitress screamed and ducked for cover behind her tray.

“There isn’t much time, so steal fast,” Sky hissed to Aida before disappearing into the brawl. Aida set off in the opposite direction grabbing coins from tables and pockets.

About a minute later, she joined Sky outside the threshold. “Excellent performance,” Sky noted.

“Why thank you.”

“Hey,” a voice from in the inn drifted out. “Where’d those two girls go?”

“Shit,” Aida muttered. “Time to go home.”

There really is no reason this particular episode should have stuck so strongly in Aida’s mind, other than perhaps that it was the last normal evening she had with her best friend for a long, long time.

Not that she could know it at the time. No, all Aida knew was that the adventure Sky so fervently looked forward to was finally happening. Her noble-senses could feel it.

She thought about this through being reprimanded by Tahn, Sky’s marginally jackass father, and as she made her way through the campsite to their shared tent.

Sky always looked even younger when she was reading her mother’s old journals (and she already looked young for seventeen.) Any and all stress on her face melted into wonderment at her late mother’s life of excitement. The two of them certainly made an odd pair. Sky, with her deeply tanned skin and lively blue eyes and natural curiosity and affinity for trouble seemed to perfectly balanced Aida’s pale-as physically possible visage and white hair and the caution that made her feel older than nineteen but always lost to greed. In their six years of partnership, Sky’s pulled Aida into more sticky situations than she can count. And when she found her mother’s journals, they became the guidebook for how to become master thieves, and Sky read them religiously.

“Ew, books.” Aida dumped her bag into their treasure chest in the corner.

“Ew, ignorance,” Sky rolled her eyes. “Anyway listen. My mom mentions a temple in Ionmarsh quite a bit. She thinks it might contain a map off the Old Kingdom.”

“Oh no. no no no. “

“What?”

“The last time we followed one of your mom’s hunches, I ended up with a rash in unmentionable places.”

Sky just laughed. “I told you not to go in that fountain. Please?”

Aida groaned. “Fine. But if I get another rash, it’s on you.”

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment when you sealed your fate in even the most normal cases. But in hindsight, Aida was dead from the moment she agreed to go to Ionmarsh.


	2. Chapter 2

Day 1

“Aida! Wake up!” Sky practically dragged her out of the tent.

“Stop screaming,” Aida muttered. “Your dad’ll wake up and yell at me.”

“Sorry. I’m excited. Come on.”

They crept through the silent camp. Aida noted that there was still dew on the ground. Just how early did Sky wake me up?

They set off, and over the course of the morning the sun began to cut through the chill and the forest slowly came to life. At the crossroads between Ionmarsh and Appletown (good times), there was a bush that twitched. Sky screamed. “I don’t wanna die!”

“What! Where?” Aida jumped away from the bush. “The evil bunny of doom?”

“Hey, I didn’t know what it was!”

“Thanks for the heart attack,” Aida watched the bunny dart away. “Let’s just keep going.”

The temple at Ionmarsh didn’t exactly give Aida a warm and welcoming vibe. In fact, it looked downright threatening, between the tree that had been mercilessly torn apart and the stone tablet that Aida couldn’t read to save her life. And the weird puddle of black goo. What was that?

“There is no chance in hell of me touching that.”

“Good.”

Aida made a quick face at the goo before following Sky into the dark temple entry. This was not much of an improvement. In fact, she couldn’t see. At all. And there she went.

“Ouch!”

“Oh sorry, was that your foot?”

“That was my hand.”

“Why are you on the floor?”

“I fell, okay?”

“Okay, I think I found a switch.”

And then the two were bathed in borderline blinding light. Aida jumped. Her nose was two-ish inches away from a stone face. Then she sighed in relief.

“That’s a statue.”

“One of the old queens?” Sky thought aloud. Then she respectfully dipped her head. “May you rest in peace, milady.”

“Since when were you religious?”

Sky shrugged. “It can’t hurt.”

“Well, you’d better pray that this isn’t a dead end, because it sure looks like one.”

“Fine, help me look around.”

Aida narrowly avoided stepping in another black puddle. “Ew.” These things were everywhere.

She found herself drawn back to the queen statue. There was something about it that she couldn’t explain, something that made her feel connected to this long deceased monarch. She felt something about this statue, and it definitely wasn’t reverence.

Maybe it had something to do with the pricey-looking jewel inset in her forehead that nobody was likely to miss.

Aida began on working at the stone around it. It wasn’t hard, the statue was already crumbling around it. Then her finger brushed against the large ruby.

And then she was weightless. She began drifting towards the ceiling and she couldn’t move and there was this bright silvery light around everything and wait- was she glowing?

“Aida!” Sky screamed.

Then as suddenly as it started, it was over. Aida hit the ground hard. “Ow.”

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know, I barely touched the damn jewel and the place went crazy.”

“By the old kings!”

“What?”

“The statue’s gone.”

“Wait, did I do that?” then Aida looked past the empty pedestal to see a tunnel had opened up behind it. “Was that there before?”

“Yes!” Sky jumped back up. “Let’s go!”

“Sky, wait.”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little magic.”

“I just flew, Sky. That was no ‘little magic’.”

“Please? I feel like we’re so close.”

Aida tried to contain a whimper as she followed Sky back into the darkness.

At least this next room had a few small windows near the ceiling. But on the other hand- “Another dead end?”

“No!” Sky looked like she might cry. “It has to be here, my mom’s journals said so.”

“Well, it sounds like your mom was wrong this time.”

“Please, maybe there’s another switch. Just help me look around.”

“I think we should call it a night, I’m getting this really creepy feeling that we shouldn’t be here.”

“Just help me look, please!”

Aida sighed. “Fine.”

She wanders around the small room, and this time is unable to avoid the black puddle. She leaned over, peered into the murky liquid, and swirled her fingers in it. Then she pitched forward face first into it. She heard Sky muttering “Oh, shit shit shit,” in the most panicked voice she’d ever heard.

She dreamed that she was waking up on a soft bed, something she hadn’t done on years. She was in a small, but clean and warm cottage. She smelled a stew cooking. She sat up, blinking at these unfamiliarly homey surroundings. Wait, this couldn’t be-

“Aida!” an older woman turned around from her place at the stove.

“Grandmother?”

“Aida, sweetie, they’re coming for you today.”

“Who?”

“Please, I need you to sneak out back, and run away as fast as you can. We don’t have as much time as I thought. Please promise me you’ll take care of yourself. You’re noble but you’re still just a kid.”

“I-“ Aida stammered. Was this that day? Her most repressed memory?

There were exactly three even knocks on the door. Then it flew open. A young noble, about Aida’s age entered. Another older man followed him. The older man went straight for grandmother, slitting her throat, not giving her a chance at escape.

Since Aida’s youth, she knew she was different. Not that she knew any other kids to compare herself to, but she was faster than she should be, stronger. It unnerved even the most hardened old men that her eyes were a bright, piercing red. She couldn’t feel pain. She got into the worst kind of trouble. Every now and then, when she did, there was a brief look of remembering in grandmother’s eyes, the look that she was just remembering exactly what she was raising, and was afraid of it.  
Not that she was Aida’s real grandmother. She was a human. She died a painful, but quick and easy death. Aida was of the race of abominations. The probably undead, historical super soldiers.

The younger man advanced on Aida, and when she decided she should listen to grandmother for once, the older one was immediately behind her. She found herself pinned to the wall, the other noble’s hand around her throat.

“It’s nothing personal,” he said while drawing his sword. “You just have something I need.”

Then she felt the cold metal pierce her abdominal wall and lodge itself in her stomach. It felt weird at first, then she noticed the glow. Her breathing grew ragged, and she realized, he was here for her ability.

“Nothing personal my ass,” she managed to choke out before the pain exploded inside her. Her vision blurred and then darkened.

“What should we do with the girl?”

“Just dump her in the woods, make it look like it was bandits.”

…

…

“And your sleeping friend here, you said she flew?”

“Yes, and the whole room started shaking, and that’s how we got in here.”

“Zander? What do you think?”

“I think that’s weird.”

“But she’ll be okay, right?”

“Yes, your friend here is lucky. If it were a fully grown incubus, she could have been locked in an eternal nightmare. She’ll wake up soon. Probably have a terrible dream tough.”

Sky was standing a couple of yards away, talking to a small dwarf with freckles and a messy reddish bun and a moon elf with lavender skin and an I-think-I-ate-too-much expression.

“She should have known not to touch an incubus.”

“I’m sorry, we’re not exactly scholars. Tillie, right?”

The dwarf nodded.

“And Zander,” the elf added.

“So why are you here anyway?” she asked, not seeing Aida standing up.

“Stuff…” Zander answered. “Why are you here?”

“Stuff,” Aida said. One look at Sky’s face and she knew she was in trouble.

“You idiot!” Sky slapped her shoulder. “What were you thinking?”

“Um, probably something along the lines of ‘look at this gross black puddle, I’m gonna poke it,’ and I couldn’t find a stick.”

“Still joking, I see.” Wow, she is pissed. “You know someday your sense of humor is going to get you killed.” Then her expression softened. “Are you okay? They said you’d probably have a nightmare.”

“Um, yeah. It was about the day we met.”

“Oh.” Sky knew that Aida didn’t like to talk about it.

“The carvings are dwarven, Til,” The guy, Zander called from aross the room.

“Ooh, lemme take a look,” Tillie walked over and bent down to examine the faded runes. “Exactly as I thought.”

“What?”

“I can’t read them. They’re probably Kadan.”

“That’s the language of the old kingdom, right?” Sky chimed in.

“Mmhm,” Tillie nodded before launching into a lecture that Aida wasn’t really paying attention to.

She was snapped back into reality when Zander added “Even mages were common back then.” She noted that he seemed to be stressing the word “were.”

“Well, thank you for the um, history lesson. That was very, kind of you?” She really wasn’t sure what to say.

Tillie was. “I saved your life. You could at least tell me what you’re doing here.”

“Sky’s looking for a map.”

She giggled. “You’re standing on it!”

Aida looked down. “Oh. Sky, I found your map.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

Aida noticed Tillie was studying her. “You look like a noble.”

She stiffened. It occurred that lots of people noticed this but never mentioned it. Not even Sky had ever asked about it. “Well, I’m not.”

“Um, Til?” Zander leaned over and whispered, “You may not want to piss off a race known to be cold-blooded killers.”

“I heard that.”

“Half noble? They aren’t known to have human partners.” Tillie was unfazed.

“Well, I don’t know, I never knew my parents.”

“Well it seems we’re looking for the same place.” Tillie said.

“We should team up!” added Sky.

“WHAT!” Aida shouted in unison with Zander.

“It’ll be great! We can go back to our camp and rest tonight and the get started tomorrow!” Sky rambles on. She and Tillie started back out of the temple, chattering excitedly.

“Looks like we don’t have any say in this.”

“Nope.”

The walk back to camp was not fun. Ordinarily, Aida and Sky would be laughing, spitting really stupid jokes back and forth. This time, Sky’s walking ahead with Tillie, talking about her and Zander’s university education in Ildis. She ended up in the back next to Zander himself, who was watching Tillie with probably the same expression Aida was watching Sky with.

Well, at least Sky seemed to be having fun.

After some time passed, Aida became aware that Zander was watching her.

“You look vaguely pissed off.”

She looked back up at him. “So do you.” She stared directly ahead for a few minutes, but can feel his eyes boring into her head. “It’s been a long day. Flying then falling into a magic nightmare trap isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.” She looked up again. “By the old kings, I didn’t know you moonies could smile.”

The admittedly faint grin faded slightly. “Well, most don’t, but I am a mage.”

“So mages are what, constantly smiling optimistic people?”

“Mages feel emotions ten times stronger than most people. How do you not know that? It’s common knowledge.”

“Well I kind of spent my childhood hiding from constantly being hunted down, which doesn’t leave much time for extra things like, uh, education.” His face was back to how it was earlier now. “I mean I can like read.” He kept looking at her. “If you feel ‘ten times stronger’ then why do you always have the same face?”

“Well forgive me for always having the same face?”

“No, I mean the ‘I think I ate too much’ face.”

“I don’t have that face.”

Tillie turned away from her conversation with Sky. “You have that face.”

Zander mildly glared down at Aida. Then she started laughing. “I bet you can fix it with magic!”

“That isn’t how it works,” he muttered while Aida began picking at the remnants of black goo in her hair.

“Gross, what even is this anyway?”

She immediately regretted asking when Zander grinned again, this time with a more mischievous glint. “Excrement.”

Aida might have cried.

Making small talk felt a little easier though, until the group neared the campsite. Then something felt wrong. It felt like….

“Death?” Aida broke ahead of the group, and into the site, then screamed.

This was just brutal. Blood and corpses were everywhere. The rest of the group made it into the clearing.

Sky gasped. “Dad!” Then she darted into her shared tent.

Aida turned around to see her new companions staring, open mouthed. “I’ll go check on her.”

“Why?” Sky sobbed as soon as Aida came into the tent.

“I don’t know.”

“Please, I just want to be alone right now.”

However, before Aida could leave, something else caught her notice. “Sky, your mom’s journals are gone!”

“What would anyone want with them?”

“I don’t know,” Aida said again.

Sky, who had been kneeling over Tahn’s body, threw herself onto the ground and sat, cross legged in frustration. She buried her face in her hands. “Please.”

Outside the tent, Aida meets Tillie. “We moved the bodies away from camp. I’m not exactly familiar with human funeral customs.”

“That’s a good idea. We can let Sky decide what to do with them. I’m not exactly human either.” The two exchange a look. “What?”

“We think we know who may have done this. It’s all very clean, a single shot to the head. We think it may be the Eagles.”

“I have a feeling you don’t mean the bird kind.”

“They’re the gang that wiped out the order of the knights. Now they’re running half of Northliffe.”

Aida actually listened this time as Tillie explained how the Eagles are undergoing a change in leadership to a man named Diego and how she might be able to get Sky’s mother’s journals back if she gets herself recruited by them.

“I’ll do it,” Sky volunteered as soon as she emerged and was filled in.

“No,” Aida said. “You’d probably just stab the guy in his sleep. I’ll go.”

It was agreed that they were to start off to Northcliffe immediately.

“I just need a few minutes, to say goodbye,” Sky said.

“Aida, I’d like to have a little chat with you before we go,” Tillie said.

“I’ll just be around,” Zander said.

Aida followed Tillie to the edge of camp. “What’s up?” she asked.

Tillie went on to tell her how one upon a time she and Zander had been doing research for the Eagles, and had stumbled across evidence that they were working with the Silver order. “This man, Oswaldo, he is noble. I’m afraid we’re getting into something much darker than we originally thought.”

“Why do I need to know this?” Aida asked.

“I just thought you should know what we’re starting.”

“Well, Sky needs those journals back.”

Tillie sighed. “Okay then.”

Sky still seemed in no condition to be traveling, so Aida decided to try Zander. He still looked like he might puke.

“I haven’t seen this many bodies since my approval,” he said.

“I thought you didn’t need to be approved for the university in Ildis.”

“Mages need to prove that they can keep control of their emotions even in the worst situations,” he explained.

“So it’s really that bad when you guys can’t control your emotions?” she asked.

He sighed. Aida could feel a story coming on. “When I was a kid, my parents got a little servant girl, a lith. Her name was Kille. I eventually made friends with her. I decided to teach her to read. She was smart, a really fast learner. But then my parents found out. So my mother took her into my room and started beating her. She told me this is what happens when I mingle with servants.”

“And you told her to stop?”

“In a way.”

Aida waited for him to continue. “Well?”

“I set the house on fire.”

“Remind me not to piss you off.” She tried cracking a grin.

“Long story short, yeah, it really is that bad.”

Frankly, Aida wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. After a minute, she grinned crookedly again. “Well, it’s great to know I’m in a group with a pyromaniac.” After a minute more she added “Hot in more ways than one. Be careful. I just may start liking you.”

“Be careful, I just may set you on fire.”

Aida decided she liked Zander.

Now it was time to see if Sky was ready. She was still sitting motionless next to the tent. “I didn’t even say good bye. I just snuck out. He probably died wondering where I was.”

“Sky, none of this is your fault. There is nothing you could have done. Even if we were still here, we’d have just died along with them.”

“No, you don’t get it.”

“Apparently not, please explain.”

“I blamed him for my mom’s death, and he knew it. He died thinking I hated him. I can’t even apologize now.”

“Would you really feel better if you could go say the things you never did?”

Sky wipes the tears from her face. “I don’t know.”

“Me neither, but I promise, I will find this Diego and make him pay.”

“Please.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” Sky wiped the last of her tears away and stands up. “I’m ready.”

“To Northcliffe.”

A few miles away from camp and long after sunset, Aida found a clean stream and washed off what she could of the “excrement.” She had no idea if Zander was being serious and frankly preferred not to know. When she got back, they had set up a small temporary camp, even with a little fire. Sky had gotten their bedrolls from the camp and now silently handed Aida hers before walking off and sitting barely within the firelight.

“Okay then,” she wandered over to where Tillie and Zander were unrolling their own. “I guess I’m hanging out with you guys tonight.” She dropped her roll on the ground, then sat on it. “So, any good scary stories?”

Once again, they were both giving her the same blank stares.

Aida opened her mouth, then closed it. “See, I just tried to come up with one on spot, but I’ve got nothing and it didn’t work.”

“You aren’t actually unemotional, are you?” Tillie asked.

“Til-“ Zander sounded like he was going to say more but instead gave up and cut himself off.

“Well, I mean,” Aida struggles to find the right words. “Like, it kinda comes and goes. Like today when you told me the stuff was ‘excrement’ in my hair, I nearly started crying, because I was tired and that’s gross and I’d had enough magical shit for one day. No offense or anything but hey. But like, now my friends are dead, and I just can’t bring myself to think anything of it. It’s too much.” She looks at them and can’t read their faces. “Feelings are hard.” She sighs and starts getting into her bedroll, then looks back up with a bright grin. “Truth or dare isn’t as much fun as I hoped. Some sleepover.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi i'm kiosk and i couldn't pace myself to save my life


	3. Chapter 3

Day 2

 

“Aida, wake up. Aida. We’re going to Northcliffe, remember?”Sky was shaking Aida awake again, like most mornings.

She opened her eyes, and then squeezed them shut again. “Ah. Bright. Outside. Woah.” She rubbed the sleep out of them, the squinted around to see Tillie performing very similarly to Sky. “Ugh, morning people, amirite?”

Zander groaned and rolled over on the other side of the burned out fire.

Sky sighed. “I’ve got breakfast.”

Aida sat up. “I’m up.”

Sky looked at Tillie. “Ugh, heavy sleepers, amirite?”

Tillie scowled. “At least yours responds to food.” She continues nudging the elf with her foot. "We won't make it to Northcilffe today. I'm thinking tomorrow afternoon, if _somebody_ wakes up." 

She was right, and Aida spent the day-long walk alternating between comforting Sky and talking to the rest of the group. Making new friends seemed like a nice way to get an adventure started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow great job look how even these chapters are fantastic


	4. Chapter 4

Day 3

 

"Welcome to Northcliffe, golden city of Valond," Tillie announced.

  
"Golden?" Aida scanned the lazy streets bathed in late afternoon sunlight. There wasn't much to scan, just a few shady-looking guys in an alley and a woman who looked ready to be jumped at any minute.

"Back in King Adrian's day this place was a thriving harbor city," Tillie defended her word choice.

"He was good," Zander added, "For a human king."

"So do we have a plan at all or?"

"Aida, you just go ask around. There isn't time to do much today, so just see if you can get their attention." Tillie seemed to have it all figured out.

"And be careful!" Sky added.

"Aida, I-" Zander looked like he wanted to say something else, but thought better of it. "Just be careful," he resorted. "And get a cape. That hair won't help you make friends."

"Thanks." Aida shot him the most obviously fake smile she could.

"We'll be waiting in the Fragile Falcon's inn," Tillie told Aida.

Aida saluted as the three others left. Okay, time to find a tailor. Hmmm, tailor, tailor tailor tailor. Tailor?

No. That was a bag of potatoes. Who just leaves a bag of potatoes out on the street?

Aida pocketed one.

Oh, look, a tailor! "Anissa's dresses, pretty and practical." Aida brushed into the store.

The woman behind the counter looked a few years older than Aida, her hair in a messy braid and wispy bangs hanging in her face. "Can I help you?" she asked with a friendly, if tired smile, which quickly melted away as she took in Aida's rumpled, dirty tunic, scratched face and messy white hair. "Oh, I'm sorry. The Blacksmith is down the street, if that's what you're looking for."

"Um, actually I'm looking for a cape?" The woman looked skeptical. "Yeah, something cofortable and light."

"Oh, I had just the thing for you, but I just sold the last one."

"Damn, I really needed it."

"Well, after he left here he went to the Wandering Tree next door. You might be able to catch him there. Anything else I can help you with?"

Aida thought for minute, then thought _why not_. "Actually, would you happen to know anything about getting recruited by the Eagles?"

The woman appeared to become twice as uncomfortable. "Um, no, I wouldn't. Sorry."

"Ok." Aida stood there a moment longer. "Well, thanks anyway."

She heard the woman exhaling in relief as she left. Rude.

The Wandering Tree. Stupid name for a tavern.

Aida stepped into the next door on the street, and was reminded of the Nifty Fox. Primarily by the drunk guy at the bar a few feet to her left.

"Come on Devlin, one more mug. I thought we were friends!"

Yep, just like the Nifty Fox.

"No, we're not friends," the bartender was telling him off.

"Aw, I'm hurt," he then notices Aida and apparently isn't too drunk for acting, because then he adds, "And even when I have such great news!"

"Oh?"

Oh no.

"I'm going to be a father!"

_Oh no._

"And here comes my lady right now!"

Aida froze, not entirely sure what to do as the sweaty blond strolled over and laid his arm across her shoulder. and whispered, "Help me out here sweet cheeks." 

Sweet cheeks? Oh hell no. "I don't have time for this." she shoved his meaty arm off her. "I'm not helping some guy I don't even know con someone else for more booze." 

"Hey what's your problem?"

"My problem is a pest who doesn't understand the meaning of 'I don't have time for this.'"

"Okay, that's a little harsh-"

"Harsh?" Aida was pretty pissed by now. "Harsh is when I start beating you with that stool." She motioned to the barstool he'd been sitting on.

"Okay, okay, fine, I'm going."

"Idiot," she remarked.

"Can I help you?" asked the bartender after he was gone.

"Yeah, who was that guy?"

"Him? Eh, just a drunk. He's in here every night, drinking and gambling himself into debt. Any more and you'll have to ask the guy himself. Anything else?"

"Um, I'm looking for a friend. He's in a nice new cape. I'm told he came in here."

"Yeah, he's over there in the corner." He pointed. "I hate them moonies. Aways starin' cold."

"Thanks," Aida said before going to approach the moon elf. She coughed lightly. "Hi, um," he looked up. "That cape," he kept staring at her blankly. "I kind of need it? Like, life or death situation." 

He stood up and shit, some elves are tall, and then some are tall. "Of course," he said while taking it off. "You need it more than I do. Good luck, Aida."

Aida took the cape, mildly dumbfounded. "I cannot believe that worked." She turned to say something else, only to find that he was already gone. That was weird. "Do I know him?"

"One more question," she found the bartender again.

"Yeah?"

"Could you tell me anything about getting recruited by the Eagles-"

"Shh shh!" he cut her off. "Not so loud."

He then went back to washing glasses, a bit more feverishly than before.

"Okay then."

Once back outside she noticed the sun was setting. Now was probably a good time to find the others. She could do more exploring in the morning. She walked a while, turned a few corners, got a little lost, then ended up back where she started.

Wait, there was a note in her pocket. How long had that been there?

"Friendly advice: Stop asking about the Eagles. -a friend."

"Should I be concerned about the overuse of the word 'friend'?"

So she tried the other way. After a few turns, she saw a sign that looked promising. As she was going towards it, she bumped into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're- you again!" It was the guy from the Wandering Tree.

"You again!"

"Because of you, I had to-"

"There she is!"

"What?"

And then a couple of thugs were on top of them. Aida managed to get them off of her,  but they weren't exactly down for the count. In fact, they were getting back up.

"Got any ideas for how to fight these guys gorgeous?"

"I have a potato."

"I don't think inviting them to dinner will do much."

"Well do you have any brilliant ideas?"

"Duck!"

Aida did, and one of the assailants went flying over her head. It looked like she didn't have much of a choice but to fight with him.

They weren't a good team.

"Get down, idiot! Where'd you learn to fight? A zoo?"

"No, They wouldn't take me!" With that, the guy hit the last thug on the head, and he went down.

"Okay, that one was funny," Aida admitted.

"I'm Jace," he extended his hand. 

"Aida!" Sky broke out of the Fragile Falcon. "We heard a fight."

"Well, they weren't that tough, and I had help."

Tillie looked at Jace and about jumped out of her freckles. "Where did you manage to find yourself a knight?"

"A what?"

"I'm so sorry!" Tillie didn't bother to explain to Aida. "Did you lose many friends?"

"Will somebody please explain to me what's going on?"

Tillie looked like she'd momentarily forgotten her existence. "Of course! But not here. It'll be safer inside." She ushered the rest of them into the Fragile Falcon and off of the streets. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well i'm back at home for these chapters but i'm really feeling the no checking for accuracy thing like hey lets just do this


	5. Chapter 5

Day 4

 

The next day, Aida found her way into an alchemist's shop near where the group had started out. She's met by a middle aged woman with a messy updo of red hair stocking shelves.

"Anything I can help you with?" she didn't look up from her crate of bottles.

"Can I just take a look around?"

The woman gestured what Aida perceived as assent.

There was a pepper on the counter. It was just sitting there. Why was a pepper in an alchemy shop, she had to wonder. Aida slid the pepper into her bag. "Actually, I don't suppose you'd know anything about the Eagles, would you?"

"Sorry, can't help you there."

"Thought so."

Later, she found the blacksmith's shop that the seamstress from yesterday must have been referring to. Ah, the smell of burning metal. Inside, she found the front of the store empty. There was a note on one counter, evidently from someone's very pissed off daughter that he taught her kids "unnecessary" words like "horse" and "poopie." Right, because everybody knows the real and actually useful term is "muscly hoof pal."

And, a pretty sharp looking pair of nice daggers hung from the wall. "Ooh, some to momm- AH!" she shrieked when she heard the humming behind her. She turned to face the large, bearded man, likely the blacksmith. "By the old kings, hasn't anyone ever taught you not to sneak up on fragile girls?"

The older man laughed. "The way you're eyeing those daggers, I doubt you're as fragile as you seem." He continued to look her over, taking in her sheet of white hair and ivory skin. "It's odd. You look like a noble, but you don't feel like one."

"Feel?"

"I've been around a long time, and I've met my share of nobles. With a true noble, you get a sense of implacable dread in the pit of your stomach. With you, though, it's just a general sense of unease. But that could just be my lunch."

Oh. Okay. "It's nice to know I feel like diarrhea."

He laughed again. "You're alright. Anything I can help you with?"

"About those daggers," Aida glanced back at the wall. "They look useful. How much would they cost?"

The Blacksmith seemed to draw back. "I wasn't planning on selling them, but hell, they were originally made for a noble. Tell you what, do me a favor and they're yours."

"Okay, who do you want killed?"

"Oh!" It was like he'd just remembered what he was talking to. "No, nothing like that. I just want you to talk to my daughter for me. We had a fight last week, and she hasn't spoken to me since."

"That's all? I'm sure I can manage that."

He laughed once more. "That's because you haven't met her yet. She works at the tailor's shop down the street. Look for Anissa."

 

 The woman in the tailor's shop looked only a little surprised to see Aida back. 

"Are you Anissa by any chance?" she asked.

"Yes..."

"Your dad sent me to talk to you."

And with that, Anissa gave her a look of pure exasperation. "Yeah, that's my dad, always sending people to deal with his problems for him. What did he offer you?"

Aida debated her possible responses. "Daggers..." she decided to go with honesty.

Anissa sighed. "So that's what I'm worth to him. I'm sorry for him getting you caught up in this, it's really not your problem."  It seemed like that's all she had to say on the matter.

Aida decided to try a different approach. "Listen, I don't have parents, or a family. You're actually pretty lucky there. But I do have a best friend, and I know we'd do pretty much anything for each other. And when we fight, it's usually either something really stupid, or just because we really, really care about each other. It's like, 'I can't watch you go around like this, so you'd better shape up!'"

"That's," Anissa chewed on the words for a minute. "Stupid. But I guess I'll think about it." 

That was about all Aida could hope for. She managed to kill time in the street until her stomach began to demand lunch. Fortunately, she walked right by a kitchen that looked almost ready to open.

She entered and almost ran into a screaming teenaged boy. "Help, miss!"

"What?"

"She'll flay and cook me aight!"

Aida looked up to see a large and very angry looking woman wielding a knife.

"I will not," the woman shouted.

The boy screamed out loud again and darted out the door, leaving Aida alone with his... Boss? Mother? She had no idea.

The woman then turned on Aida. "I'm sorry about that. He's just spilled out our ingredients and I don't have time to buy more before we open." 

"Ah." Aida remembered the various food items she'd been collecting the past days. "Actually, I happen to have some on me right now." She produced the foods from her bag. "Here."

"Oh you wouldn't mind helping me with the meatpies, would you?"

"I'm not much of a cook-" She stammered.

"Please, I can pay you."

"Okay."

The woman set her up with cutting board, a huge hunk of mutton, a knife, and several pie crusts. She stumbled through slicing the meat and putting it into the crusts and it wasn't actually that hard.

"Thank you, you're a lifesaver." The woman told her once she was done and slipped her several gold pieces.

"Thank _you_ ," Aida replied and placed the coins in her bag.

By now it was probably safe to check back in with the blacksmith and Anissa.

"And no more teaching them to duel," Anissa was lecturing her father.

"But they're boys, they need to handle a sword and-"

"No dueling," she insisted. She saw Aida and flashed her a shallow, tired smile before leaving.

Aida watched her go. "So I've just made peace between you two, and you're already fighting again?"

He let out a hearty chuckle. "Fighting? Nah, girl, that's our bonding."

"Oh. If you ever start fighting for real, then warn me first so I can build a shelter."

He laughed again. "And here's your daggers," he slipped them off their mounting on the wall. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"I'm looking for the Eagles, I heard they're a fun bunch!"

The smile dropped off his face. "I don't know anything about those people, and you never asked me. And I never said look for the alchemy shop."

"I'm beginning to like you, old man."

 

The alchemist greeted her again with the same "Anything I can help you with?"

"I don't like being lied to." Her voice came out a little more cool and threatening than usual, and Aida wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"I'm going to need you to be a little more specific."

"About the Eagles and Diego?"

The older woman said nothing.

"I won't tell. I'm just trying to get recruited. Hell, I'll advertise your shop to the people I beat up!"

She sighed. "Oh well, you seem like you can handle yourself. You don't find the Eagles. They find you."

"Are you one of them?"

"No, I just supply."

"Supply?"

"Good luck, kid."

Try as she might, Aida couldn't get anything else out of the alchemist. Defeated, she found her way back to the Fragile Falcon.

Tillie grabbed her as soon as she entered the door. "Listen, Aida. You have your cape, you have your- what are those?"

"Daggers?"

"Well, you've done your shopping, now we need to talk business. See these Eagles, they only take the worst of the worst. Thieves, bullies, the absolute worst. You need to project yourself as someone ruthless."

"Cool, time to become ruthless Aida. I'll start some fights, and steal some nerd's money, or start kicking ducks."

"Essentially. Though, kicking ducks is not necessary."

"Good."

Tillie beamed. "We're getting close. I can feel it." She stepped aside to let Aida in. 

Sky pulled her over to where she was sitting at the bar. "So, Tillie and I have been talking, and she says that Ildis is really beautiful."

"And?"

"She also said that the University there takes applications from all over Arunia. And I was just thinking I might possibly-"

"Are you dumping me?"

"No, no. Wait, what? No!" Sky took a minute to recover and gave Aida a look that said "seriously?" She took a deep breath. "Listen, just hear me out. Every time you risk your ass, or save mine, I just feel useless. And weak. I'm weak. I think that's why I wanted us to be thieves so badly, because my mom seemed so strong in her journals. I want to become a strong woman, and not 'just like her.' I want to become strong in my own way." 

"So, you're dumping me."

"I guess if you want to look at it like that."  Sky wilted a little bit.

"I think you're already strong, in your own way."

"Don't bullshit to make me feel better. I know, I'm a wimp. But I want to change that. And I'm still your best friend."

"Alright. Not to mention we have no clue how this business will end, so this is all hypothetical."

"Of course. Now," she leaned in closer and grinned mischievously. "Notice how Zander has been watching you?"

"I probably did something wrong again."

"No, I'd say you've done something very right."

Aida hesitantly turned around to where she was pretty sure Zander was talking to Jace. They both immediately stopped talking and just looked at her.

Mother fucking shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lets see if i can ignore my summer reading and bang the rest of this out in the less than a week i have before school starts, shall we?  
> i'm sorry about the long wait for this chapter, i had band camp for 2 weeks


	6. Chapter 6

Day 5

 

The city's general mood seemed to reflect what Tillie had said the previous night: playtime is over. An ominous quiet followed Aida everywhere she went. A couple people stared at her as she wandered through the streets that were slowly becoming familiar. The events of the day led her apparently nowhere. Little happened at all beyond the gambling lith girl who was in the Wandering Tree.

Until sunset, when she decided why not check out this library she'd passed a couple times. She pushed open the door and went in.

"For the last time, the library is closed. Please leave!" The librarian shouted. Oops. Aida was ready to leave, until she realized she wasn't talking to her. There was a pretty big but generic thug standing a little further inside.

"Listen little lady-" He didn't get the chance to finish his thought. He was quite easy to take care of.

"Thank you, I've been trying to get rid of him for almost an hour."

"No problem."

"He was insisting I had a valuable relic hidden in the library," The girl continued.

"Do you?"

She shook her head. "The only valuable thing in the library is knowledge."

"Tillie?"

"Hm?" she glanced around. "My name is Rin."

"Oh, sorry. You just reminded me of someone."

"It's alright." Rin smiled before beginning to pick a few books up off the floor. "Again, thank you for getting rid of that guy. If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask me."

Aida thought about her quality of sleep lately, and how it had been even lower than usual. "Could you tell me anything about dreams? Like what they mean?"

"Well," Rin started, "Usually dreams indicate your current mental state. Dreams about losing teeth, being chased, or falling can all indicate high stress."

"Mmhm, how about dreams where everybody you think you might care about end up suffering some nasty fate all because of your actions? Hypothetically?"

"I think that would mean you aren't really as carefree as you'd like to appear."

Well, damn. Aida thanked the librarian before leaving and almost immediately running into a priestess.

"Oh! I'm sorry."

"No, you're okay."

A big and nasty-looking guy appeared behind her.

"For fuck's sake," Aida shouted. "Where are you all coming from?"

"What?" the priestess asked.

Aida began pulling out her daggers, and the priestess shouted "NO! This is my boyfriend!" then a look of understanding crossed her face. "By the old kings, the Eagles sent you, didn't they? Fine, I'll leave, just leave him alone. Tell Diego I'm going!" She continued backing away, and her boyfriend followed. Aida noticed a few people looking with wide eyes. She quickly put her daggers away.

Well, whatever that was, it wasn't her problem.

 

She made it back in time to eat dinner with the rest of the group. Sky seemed engrossed in Story Time with Tillie and Zander, which left Aida to talk to a certain knight.

"Hey gorgeous. You know you are way more trouble than you are worth."

"Psht, I'm worth way more."

"Yeah, sure. So I hear your friend lost her dad to the Eagles." Aida remembered how on the first night in Northcliffe, Tillie told them about how the Order of Knights had been ambushed and totally wiped out by the Eagles a few years back.

"Yeah, her mom too. She's been through a lot."

Jace winced sympathetically. "That's rough. My brother was killed by them too."

"You have a brother?"

"Well, kind of. In the knights, we were assigned brothers. Kind of a partners-for-life deal. Mine was an Adeshian guy, Cain. He was crazy. Never stopped messing around."

"Sounds familiar."

"Good guy though. He meant well. He made sure to take care of me, since I was one of the youngest in the Knights."

"The Eagles killed him?"

"Yeah, I saw it. Arrow straight through the head. Poor guy never saw it coming."

"I'm sorry," Aida said, and she meant it. She couldn't even imagine ever losing Sky.

"Though you know what'd make me feel better? You planting a kiss on my lips."

"You what would make me feel better? Planting a my fist on your face."

Jace chuckled just a little nervously. "That's harsh. Do you really hate me that much?"

"You _are_ pretty annoying, I mean if you didn't have that face I'd drop-kick you pretty hard."

"Yeah, you have no idea how many times this face has saved my ass."

"Yeah, but really, it gets annoying when you call me gorgeous."

"Well gorgeous, you're just gonna have to deal with it."

"It was worth a shot."

"Anyways, what's with you and the elf?"

Aida thought for a minute, then said "I don't know." And she didn't. She wasn't entirely sure how to describe what she felt about Zander. Maybe it was just the pull of two people who were too emotive for their own respective races, in a case of misery-loves-company. Maybe it was something romantic. Maybe it was something even more valuable than that. "I'm not used to this feelings business. Everything is... weird. Why?"

"I just don't like being on fire, that's all."

 

Aida must have been even more stressed than before, because sleeping was simply not happening. She spent at least an hour lying on her cot in their rented room after everyone else had gone quiet. Then the total silence and darkness of the room, even punctuated by Jace's snoring, became too much. She kicked off the wool blanket and slid into her boots before creeping into the tavern's common area. She was a little surprised to see Zander already sitting on a stool, keeping the room barely lit with a small flame. He looked up when he heard her come in. "Hey."

"Hi." She let the silence sit for a minute. "Couldn't sleep either?"

"Yeah... It happens a lot though, I'm used to it."

"Ah." Aida nodded. "For me it's more an issue of staying asleep. Really unfun dreams."

"Sky told us about how she found you. That can't have been pleasant."

"Well, you're not wrong."

The two sat in the relative darkness for a few more minutes. "It won't be long until they try to contact you again. Do you think you're ready?"

"I already scared a priestess out of town, I think if I could handle her, I can handle a drug lord."

"And I see you're already into making jokes about it."

"Yeah."

"You realize these are the same people who killed your entire camp, right? Who wiped out the entire knight's order? If something happened to you I-" he cut himself off with a nauseated face that showed he was saying more than he'd meant.

Then something clicked in Aida's brain. "Zander?"

"..."

"Are you worried about me?"

"You don't seem worried about yourself."

Aida doesn't really know how to deny that.

Once he began speaking again, the words came slowly, as he was afraid to say the wrong thing. "When a mage forms emotional attachments, things can get very dangerous for everybody involved. And being honest, I'm wishing Tillie and I never ran into you in that cave."

"Well don't spare my feelings."

"I just feel like this whole ordeal is going to end very badly for both of us."

"Well, I personally think you could afford to loosen up, at least a little. I'll take the blame if you end up burning anyone alive."

Aida waited until he went back upstairs, then grabbed her cape. To be fair, he did have a point, and what she was about to do _was_ very stupid.

Still she stepped outside. The air inside felt stifling, she just needed a few minutes in open air.

She didn't even notice them sneaking up on her until she hit the cobblestones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kiosk has no canon. kiosk is a free elf.


	7. Chapter 7

Day 6

 

"Boss, she's awake."

"Good, let us talk."

The two thugs in the room disbanded, leaving Aida alone with the Adeshian who she could only assume was Diego.

"Forgive me," he said after the longest pause. "Our way of inviting people over is not exactly subtle. But I'm sure you understand that we can't have anyone finding our hideout." 

"Nah, don't worry about it." Aida carefully picked herself off the ground. "I just love getting knocked out cold and waking up in some dungeon. Love what you've done with the place."

"We've been paying close attention to you, Aida." There was something in his voice that seemed less than sincere, like a warning edge. "You are very interesting."

"Well, I am flattered but don't most people save kidnapping for the second date?"

"Where I'm from, people are rather pushy about getting what they want." His tone was flat, and unapologetic. "I'm Diego. I own the Eagles. Now, I don't usually recruit, but you have proven yourself to be something truly special. That priestess, I can't believe you ran her out of town just like that. Shame I'll never see her again though."

"Oh, yeah, I bully priestesses like, all the time."

"And the meatpie trick? _Genius_!"

_Meatpies?_

"That cook's been a pain in my ass for months. Poisoned quite a lot of people."

_Poisoned?_

"And the guy from the library nearly beat us to the relic we hid there, until you got to him." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm amazed at what you've accomplished in just a few days." Aida hadn't realized he'd been pacing until he stopped in front of her. "Join me." 

"Like, join the eagles?"

"No, in my quarters."

"Okay, I'll join the Eagles. Though I hear you Adeshians know your way around, um, quarters."

"Shame, we could have had a lot of fun. But there is the small matter of your recruitment. As much as you've already excelled, we do have rules. You still need to pass a test."

"I thought so."

"We need you to steal a document. Nothing big. We'll even bring you to the place it's being kept. We just need you to get in, get the paper, and get out."

"I can handle that."

"Good. One of my men will show you the way. Oh, and," he added as if an afterthought. "If you try to deceive us, we can hurt you in ways you cannot even imagine."

 

"The documents are in the study, second floor. Be quick."

That was all the Eagle who was escorting her said.

Aida studied the empty-looking house for a minute. Then she decided her best course of action would be to just climb up into the second story window. Once inside, finding the study room was fairly easy. Finding the documents was less easy. Though she wasn't sure what time it was when she began, the sky was just beginning to lighten when she landed back on the street. It was just light enough to see a blond head waiting for her.

"What are you doing here, Jace?" she hissed.

"I'm sorry, Gorgeous, but I'm gonna need that document." 

"What? No!"

"Do you even know what this is about?"

"Why are you here? Did you _follow_ me?"

"I've been watching them for a long time now, and these papers are the only proof that the Silver Order was involved in the massacre."

"What?"

"But I don't care about the nobles. This Diego guy is a traitor. He sold us out. He was one of us and he's the reason my brother died. I just want to find out who he was."

"You're jeopardizing the entire plan!"

"I'm sorry. You'd do the same thing." And with that, he sounded so sad, and genuinely sorry, and broken that Aida almost understood. But she was pretty sure he had no clue what he was doing.

"Dammit, Jace!"

"I don't want to have to hurt you."

"Me neither, but I will!"

"Don't try to stop me."

"What exactly is your plan? Stroll in and take them all down by yourself?"

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "That's called suicide, _idiot!_ "

"I just want to look him in the eyes and tell him he failed. That he couldn't kill us all."

"You don't even know where their hideout is, dammit!"

"I'm sorry, Aida. This is going to hurt a bit."

Everything was black before Aida could even process that.

 

"She isn't dead, but she doesn't have the documents."

The tone behind Diego's voice was hard to place. "Bring her in. I'll question her." It wasn't exactly fear, or resignation, but as if he'd just had one of his fears confirmed.

"I'm very disappointed. I thought I made it clear that you weren't to trick us."

Aida swallowed as the rest of the Eagles in the room left, leaving the door cracked. "Your own damn fault. One of your old buddies stole them from me."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, a knight. I guess you missed one."

"Oh, Jace." Diego's confusion resolved itself back into his previous smug, calm look. "I knew that kid would come back sooner or later." 

"Yeah, you should have." Aida inwardly winced as Jace entered the room. Very dramatic. What an idiot. "Brother."

"Wait, what?" And like that, she was lost again.

"But how?" Jace looked as confused as her. "I saw you take an arrow to the head."

"Cologmonite," Diego answered plainly. Right, the stuff they use in mage trials to induce crazy, nightmarish hallucinations. 

"You were my brother. How could you sell us out?"

"I didn't. I just did what I was trained to do."

"Yeah, selling a comrade out, I wonder who would do that?" Aida called out.

"But, why wouldn't you finish what you'd started? If you knew that I lived-"

"Lived? You were left alive as a reminder. Don't be naive." Diego strolled over and plucked the paper from Jace's belt. "Well, brother, you've had your talk. And thank you for bringing these." He looked back as if he'd forgotten Aida was there. "And as for you, I'm sure the nobles won't be pleased that their documents were stolen by one of their own."

"So you knew?" Damn cape was useless.

Diego nodded. "As soon as you set foot in the city- Oh, and how are Tillie and Zander? It was smart to choose the Falcons, I'll give her that." He called back one of the Eagles, a tall, if particularly young-looking kaleik. "Put them in one of those cells, I'll deal with them when I get back."

 

"If you're going to say something, go ahead," Jace said as soon as they were secured in the cell.

"Something?" He won the award for understatement of the year. "I don't think I could stop at 'something' you _utter piece of shit_! Once we're out of here I will fucking kill your fucking face, you little _shit_."

"Calm, drunken dwarven sailor in a cute girl costume."

"Calm down?" Remarkably, Aida's volume was lowering, but she doubted it was because she was becoming more calm. "I doubt I have ever seen anything as stupid as you are, you truly rare fucking specimen."

"I was just-"

"You could have at least, oh, I dunno, _maybe not brought the documents along with you_? Why did you even follow me in the first place? What the hell did you expect? That they'd go all 'Aw shit, this one's alive, by the old fuck, better fall on the ground and start eating _monkey ass_."

"It just happened so fast! I didn't think-"

"No, you didn't."

"Hey, I never thought the fall of the Knight Order was my fault."

"What?"

Jace looked at the ground. "He was my brother. If I'd just been paying more attention, maybe-"

"Shh." Aida cut him off.

"Hey, let me finish-"

"No. Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

The sound of breaking metal, falling stones, and something burning briefly echoed across the hideout. "That."

Jace let the noise fade out. "We should probably get out of here."

"No shit, have you tried asking the guards really nicely?"

"You would have done the same thing in my place."

"Ah, yes showing up in the Eagles hideout, you know, the people who massacred the entire Knights order, and just pop up unarmed. How did I not think of this plan sooner?"

"You know what I mean!"

"No," a familiar, cynical voice spoke from the other side of the door. Aida had to take a moment to wonder what happened to the kaleik who had been listening a second before. It made sense if Zander had caught him being distracted. This had probably been the most entertaining conversation he'd heard in a long time. "I don't know what you mean. Stand back." And then the door blew in, followed by the elf. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

"Does a shattered ego count?"

His face flushed with relief. "We can fix that later." Another loud crash resonated. "But first, we need to go, now. I don't know how much longer Tillie can hold them off."

Tillie seemed to be handling herself, but there was really no telling how long that could last. "Aida, we need to go, now," she yelled as soon as she saw them.

"Did you get the journals?" Aida asked while running to meet her.

"No, there's no time for that. Things are a lot worse than I thought."

"But how did you two find us?"

"I have a friend in the Eagles. He led us here."

"Tillie! Unless you me to burn you with the rest of this hideout, I suggest you start running _now_."

"I can explain everything later."

"TILLIE!"

"Let's go, now!"

The entire building groaned, as the flames Zander had produced grew higher. As soon as Aida, Tillie, and Jace were outside, something in the hideout exploded. All Aida could see in that direction was fire.

"Mage training involved building resistance to his element, he'll be fine," Tillie reassured her. "Now lets _move_."

Aida forced herself to run after the dwarf, and not look back.

 

"You are late, Tillie."

"Airdan!" Tillie greeted the incredibly large moon elf. Aida felt like she'd seen him before.

"Cape guy!"

He turned to look down at her. "Glad to see you are still alive, Miss Aida." Then he looked back at Tillie. "Diego left for the abandoned castle in the woods near the river. And unfortunately, you were right earlier. This definitely involves necromancy and the Silver Order. Whatever he found, it's important. If these people find out that the Silver Order had dealings with the Eagles, they'll demand it be destroyed. Valond could easily be facing civil war."

"Okay, but why the abandoned castle?" Tillie asked.

Airdan shrugged. "Something about a key. Whatever that means, it must be valuable for him to risk his life for it."

"Key to the old kingdom," Tillie muttered to herself before snapping her head back up. "Aida, we need that key."

"Alright," Aida thought about it. "Well, anyone have a plan? Except for Jace?"

"Just let it go already," Jace half commanded, half whined.

Tillie sighed shakily. "At this point, I don't think plans or trick will help us at all. We may need Jace this time."

"Oh come on."

"Diego left most of his thugs at the hideout. He'll be almost alone. I think if we all go in, full force, we have a chance at taking them down."

"Forget it," Jace snapped. "He's mine."

Barely after the words left his lips, a fireball rushed down from somewhere above, landing and scorching the ground at Jace's feet.

"Hey, what the hell, dude?"

"That," Zander appeared behind Aida and began walking towards Jace, "was a warning. If you ever betray Aida like that again, I will not kill you. I will burn you alive, slowly. And when you get close to dying, I will heal you and start over. I promise, the pain will never end." His face was pale, and his eyes, usually a soft baby blue, were nearly whited out.

Jace froze, clearly a bit freaked out. "That is a little extreme."

"No," Zander promised him. "Only when I'm done, then you will know the true meaning of extreme."

"Um, we can rest for a while," Tillie changed her mind. "I think some of us could use a nap."

"I should leave now," Airdan announced. "The others might get suspicious." And then he was gone.

It was agreed that a few hours of sleep before leaving for the castle would benefit everyone, except Aida.

"No," Sky insisted. "You need it most."

"I want to keep watch. I don't think I could sleep at this point anyway."

So Aida ended up sitting on a rock, watching the others sleep. Or, she thought they were all asleep. She hadn't realized that there were only three sleeping bodies until she heard Zander next to her.

"You know, you have a knack for finding trouble wherever you go."

She looked over, weighed her options, then smiled. "Scared?"

His response surprised her. "I am. Most of the time, actually." He looked up towards the just darkening sky. "I'm afraid of losing control. I'm afraid of hurting someone." He tapped the rock with his fingertips, as if debating something. "Like you." His voice came out cavalier, as if he was simply giving an example. But Aida was surprised that she saw through it. It hit her as amazing how long a week could be.

"You know, I'm not exactly fragile."

"You saw what happened in the hideout. I was really angry. At Jace, yeah, but also at you. Because lets face it, he wasn't the only one who made that stupid of a move. I took it out on the Eagles."

"Yeah, I saw that."

He rolled his now normal eyes. "For a second, I thought I wasn't going to be able to control it. I've told you this. If i can't keep control, I could end up hurting a lot of people." Looking at his face, Aida could tell that he was about to hit the point of no return. She had to wonder how far behind she was. If she was behind him.

"I was hesitant at first. I had to keep a grip on what I was feeling, and about who. But once I heard you were in danger," There it was. He paused, for barely a second, and then a look of total "fuck it" overcame his face. His eyes lowered from the sky, meeting with hers. "There was no denying it anymore. I couldn't lose you yet. Or at all, but especially not after just a week. Even if I feel like a time bomb whenever you're around."

This was her chance to back out. She was teetering on the edge, and if she went any further she'd follow Zander over and into the old kings only knew what. He was waiting for her response, and she could tell that what she said right now would be the final piece of her fate locking into place.

"Am I supposed to be afraid?" She felt the same sense of "fuck it" that she'd seen on Zander's face wash through herself.

"Maybe."

She tried to remember if their faces had been that close the whole time, or if she'd been slowly closing in the space the whole time. She noted her metaphorical toes already hanging past the edge, over empty space. The slightest touch, and she'd go into freefall.

She pushed forward, her lips meeting his in the middle. She closed her eyes as someone, she wasn't sure which one of them pressed further, even closer and... oh. Okay. 

Wow.  

The moment ended a little too quickly. Once they pulled apart, Aida felt the uncaring passion fade out a little.

"I, um, that, uh, I- What?"

"I may have forgotten to mention, in a particularly intimate moment with a mage, say, kissing, for that moment, you're able to feel what they feel. I did tell you about the ten times stronger emotions, right?" He was smiling more brightly than he had all week. Aida got the sense that it had been a long, long time since he'd last smiled like that.

She pulled herself together. "Forgot?"

He laughed quietly. "I'm sorry. I had to see your reaction."

She slumped back onto the rock, angling her body back towards their sleeping companions. "You evil mage."

 

Sky woke up first, and booted Zander off the rock to talk to Aida. "I don't know what to say. I guess I'm sorry? Yeah, I'm sorry. I just wanted to know how my mother died. That was it all along. And now- I'm sorry I dragged you along. Diego- Tillie says he's really dangerous."

Aida shrugged. "I think it's just mostly that he has a lot of information."  She thought for a second. "Hot though."

Sky stared at her as if she'd just fallen out of the sky. Then she started laughing. "Only you."

"Shh."

Sky sat like she wanted to say something else. Aida watched her roll the idea around in her head before she said "You know, normally I'd give up at this point. You know, quit while I'm ahead? But now, I feel like I can't. Like, I feel bound to see this through. I also want to put a knife in Diego."

"I'm sure you do."

"But I don't get one thing. How did he find our camp? And does he even know the journals are mine?"

"I don't think so."

Sky chewed on that for a bit. "Good." And in under a second she switched modes. "So about Zander..."

"Were you pretending to be asleep?"

"No," The look on Sky's face told Aida otherwise.

"So is this the part where you interrogate me and giggle about it?"

"Mmm, nah. I just congratulate you. Nice catch."

"Thanks..."

When the others woke up, they began to mobilize towards the old castle. Jace caught Aida's arm on their way out.

"I'm sorry. I backstabbed you. And I ruined everything. I just didn't know- I mean you are a noble- I thought that- nevermind. I'm sorry."

"No biggie. I mean we were only going to die, after all."

"You don't understand. He was my brother-"

"I do understand. You fucked up. Look at Sky. They killed her father and took the only thing she had left of her mother. Do you see her barging into their lair unarmed? No. Why did you come back anyway? You could have just gone to the Silver Order and told them that Diego was going to betray them. They'd have killed him for you."

"I didn't want to kill him." Jace looked like he might cry. "I just wanted to know why. I just wanted answers. Anything. The knights, we were family. It would be impossible for anyone to sell out the rest. But he did. I wanted to know how." He looked at Aida's still pissed face. "I don't know. Whatever. Who even cares."

"I care." Aida said. "You're a friend, and yeah, an idiot too, but you aren't a bad guy."

"Thanks, Gorgeous."

Those were the last words spoken for a good while.


	8. Chapter 8

Day 7

 

The walk to the castle took all night, and the sky was still a hazy dark gray when they arrived.

"We're all ready?" Aida asked around. "This'll be easy. Just go in, get the journals, and get out."

"Aida," Tillie approached her. "Just in case, I want to tell you that I've never known a noble like you, and it's been an honor to have you as a friend."

"Aww, well don't make me cry." Aida looked around. "It's only a couple of guys. We'll be fine. Ready?" After getting an affirmative glance from everyone, she made a face. "Let's get this over with." 

 

"Don't let them near the boss!" shouted the thug in the main hall.

"I'm afraid that's going to have to happen," Zander pulled a flame out of thin air, then turned to Aida. "Go, I'll catch up with you." 

"I swear, if you die-"

"You said it yourself, we'll be fine. Go!" he began to enlarge the small fireball he held. "And be careful."

"Yeah, sure."

Aida and Jace ran into the next room, and then through a few more halls until they met with the rest of the Eagles who were there.

"Go ahead Gorgeous, me and these guys are gonna have some fun."

"I thought Diego was 'yours'?"

"I'll catch up. Just, aim for the heart! Kay?"

 

Diego was waiting in the basement, leaning confidently against some kind of stone structure. Kind of like a table. "So I see you escaped."

"Yeah, I see I did. Well I'm gonna be taking these journals back now."

"Oh?" Diego cocked his head. "I don't think you are. You realize these are technically property of the Eagles."

"You lost me there."

Diego sighed, as if Aida were a small child who wouldn't stop asking questions. "The woman who wrote these was an Eagles member. Then, one day she took our information on the Old Kingdom, and ran off. She was a real pain to track down. But of course we managed, and it didn't end well for her."

"Sky's mom-"

"Her mother? That does make sense."

"I'm calling bullshit."

"Though now it makes sense, she must have left to protect her family. I never knew her myself, she was gone before I joined."

"Whatever, I'm just here for the key and the journals. You could hand them over, or I could take them. Your pick."

"No," Diego insisted, maintaining a smug tone that was getting unnerving. As if he knew he'd already won. "You won't."

That's when Aida noticed the floor was shaking. Until then, it had been a gentle, easily disregarded rumble, but already the tremors were picking up more magnitude.

"What did you do?" Aida asked as Diego began to pace in a circle around her. She tried to turn to follow him but found her legs frozen. "Why can't I move?" She turned back, completely exposing her back to him.

"I'm not doing anything, this is all you." Aida looked back at the stone table. No, it looked more like an altar, she realized with growing unease. "You wanted a key, right?" 

"What?"

"You're the key. Well not you exclusively, your race. Shame you'll have to die." He paused. "Wait, actually no, not really."

"Wait, die?"

"Once the gate's been opened, there really is no need for a key."

"This whole thing was a trap?"

Diego began laughing, like he was overjoyed. Or giddy. "And you walked right into it!" Then the smile melted away when he looked back at her. "I don't know what you are up to, but I swear, I will figure it out, and I will end it. Not that you'll be around to see it." He ignored the utter lack of understanding anything on her face as she noticed that the room was brightening. But there wasn't any light source coming in- Except that was her. 

He stared intently as her feet began lifting off the floor, and the alter in front of her also lit up. "Well, princess, I shouldn't stick around too much longer." He slowly walked to the door she came in. "So, goodbye," he bent down into a dramatic, sweeping bow. "And fuck you."

And Aida was left alone, in the shaking room with the glowing altar and she was also glowing, and flying too.

It didn't look like there'd be a way out of this one.

"JACE! ZANDER!" she screamed. "HELP?"

No response.

"JACE? I'M NOT MAD AT YOU ANYORE!"

Nothing. In fact, there didn't seem to be any activity upstairs.

 _They can't hear you anymore,_ she heard her own voice saying in her head.

Dammit, and it was also getting harder to see, with all this light radiating off of her skin.

"Shit."

Something erupted from the altar, and then the white completely engulfed her vision.

 

_..._

_Cold._

_I never thought it would be cold._

_I think, deep down..._

_I knew._

_I always knew that I would die like this._

_I thought I'd be ready.._

_...but right now..._

_...all I want..._

_...is one last chance..._

_.....to fight....._

_.............._

_.............._


End file.
